Charis

by Francis, Mary

  *****

  It was beginning to look as though Meadow Lea Hall would be finished in just a few more weeks. They also visited the new hospital in Bath and found things there progressing very nicely, too. Maybe they would be able to move as soon as school term ended, but there were still so many things to do. Charis had to decide what things, if any, she wanted to take with her.

  Ben had to start getting staff organised for work – and that was going to be a big job. They needed to hire everyone, from doctors and nurses to catering and office staff and gardeners. The list went on and on. The office manager in the London St. Anne's was put in charge of recruitment and they would have a panel to choose who they wanted from the list of successful applicants. Of course, Ben would have to be on the panel - he would be their boss.

  Gradually it all got done, but it took time. Ben was excited about the staff they’d selected. He had two new doctors, young, keen and highly recommended; Dr. Julia Pettit and Dr. Howard Armstrong. He felt he could work well with them both. They would eventually need to hire more, but it was a good start. The nursing staff also seemed to be first class. Time would tell how they all worked together.

  Charis was thrilled with what had been done at Meadow Lea Hall and was eager to be moving back into her old home, to memories of her father and her happy childhood days. She tried to block out the later memories of Mildred and Henry…they still hurt.

  They decided not to sell the house in Chelsea but would keep it to use for regular trips to London, just as her father had kept the house in St. John's Wood, employing a cleaner and a gardener to go in once a week to keep the place fresh and ready for them at any time. Ben would have to make frequent visits for work meetings with his partners, and whenever possible Charis would go with him. They hunted around for another car too, as Ben would be using the Jaguar every day to commute to Bath and Chippenham where he now would also be working as a consultant for the NHS, his reputation having gone before him.

  But it was actually the middle of August, Charis' birthday, before everything was ready and they moved. They drove down in the Jag – their new 4X4 would be delivered in a weeks’ time – and as they pulled up in the driveway Charis could hardly believe that it had finally happened. They stood together, Ben and Charis, arms around each other and gazed at their home, Jenni still asleep in her car seat, Paul and Emma already running around on the lawn.

  “We'll celebrate our homecoming tonight,” he told her, “When the children are asleep. We'll celebrate in bed. I want to make love to you as never before.”

  “Promise?” she asked him.

  “I promise,” he said with a smile that made her heart throb and gave her stomach butterflies.

  Jenni woke and Charis lifted her from the car and held her close as they watched their other two children playing together. Her happiness knew no bounds. The ghosts of Mildred and Henry were now banished forever.

  If she could’ve imagined a perfect dream of her life, this would have been it. Her wonderful husband - her handsome prince, her knight in shining armour who had been her life saver, not just once, but several times now, the love of her life. Their three beautiful children who they both adored, and her home, Meadow Lea Hall.

  She was home again...home...at last.

  *****

  The work on the dig was going well. They’d been there for several months and had enjoyed great success in finding priceless artefacts; a tomb overflowing with treasure and some important papyri.

  Henry was incredibly pleased with himself. Soon he would be going home…home to London with more money than he had dreamed of. He’d been paid extremely well for this job, and once he was back in England he would teach Charis a lesson she would never forget. Oh, he had such plans for her.

  They heard them coming and could see the sand that the horses’ hooves were raising from the desert floor as they galloped closer. About two dozen of them, men all dressed in black with faces hidden. They came into the camp, surrounded the workers with guns aimed and ready to fire. They lined everybody up by the tents, the one in charge barking out orders, still sitting high on his magnificent steed while his soldiers led all of the men away except one. Henry now stood alone. He had never known such fear, trembling like a baby, whimpering.

  The tallest of the soldiers approached him. “Henry Haversham?” he enquired.

  Henry managed a nod. Despite the heat, he was shivering…the cold eating into his bones.

  The man came close, so close Henry could feel his breath on his face, smell his sweat, their heads close together, almost touching.

  “His excellency, the King, wishes to speak with you,” Henry was told as the soldier dragged him towards the man sitting on his horse. He was pushed to his knees.

  “So,” the king said, “You are Henry Haversham?”

  Henry managed another nod.

  “I need to introduce myself to you,” the king told him. “Not only am I the king of Qumrai, but I am also uncle to the man you know as Ben Sinclair. I believe you know of whom I am speaking?”

  Henry whimpered. If he was afraid before, now the fear was unbearable.

  “His lovely wife, Charis, my niece-in-law, has been terrorised by you. I do not allow that kind of thing to happen to my family. I tell you this so that you know before you die, just why I am ending your life, why you will pay the price here and now, why I had you brought here into my domain. She will suffer no more at your hands.”

  The king nodded to his second in command. Henry's head was pushed downward, the sword was raised then came crashing down into the sand, the sand that soon ran red with Henry's blood.

  ** Henry's body was never found. But ten days after his death was reported in the news, a small crate was delivered to the British Museum. It had been sent from Qumrai. It contained Henry's severed head. This information was never released to the public.

  EPILOGUE

  Charis and Ben quickly settled into their new home, Ben into his new job and the children into the village school. They invited Ben's family to join them for their Christmas celebrations. Emily and Giles, along with Jennifer and David and their children, arrived on Christmas Eve and stayed until Boxing Day. The rest of the family joined them for Christmas Day. For Charis, this was a dream come true. Ben's gift to her was given after all their guests had left. She opened the little wicker basket to find a two month old Golden Retriever puppy. The children immediately named her Daisy.

  If Charis had been able to see into the future she would have discovered that they were to have two more children; Adam Giles, born when Jenni was three, and Eleanor Jane, Ellie, two years later, both of them born at home with Ben taking care of his wife as before.

  Ben's uncle, Azhar, would sometimes visit. Charis always made him welcome. She was eternally grateful for what he had done for her but she was always secretly relieved when he left. She was very aware of his ruthlessness.

  Both the Bath St. Anne's Hospital and the Harrogate location proved to be such a success that the partners were encouraged to open other centres in various parts of the country. Ben still had to make business trips to London to meet with his partners occasionally so the little house in Chelsea had plenty of use. The family spent part of their school holidays there every year as Charis had done as a child with her father, as well as an annual holiday in Cornwall, and sometimes visits to other parts of the country.

  Charis decided that she wouldn't send her children to boarding school. Instead, she found an excellent school close to Bath that they would attend when they got too old to go to the village school.

  Charis' father, Paul, had written in his last letter to her that she may, one day, fall in love with a handsome prince and they would live happily ever after.

  He was right.

  Dear Reader,

  I have tried to make this story as realistic as possible with all places, events and dates being correct, for example, the time difference between London and Cairo, and the length of time to travel from one place to another
. The historical information regarding the creation of Meadow Lea Hall and the area in which it was built is all correct but I have to admit that I have taken a bit of licence in some other areas. For instance, when Ben and Charis go to buy their new car. The make, model and colour is real, but may not have yet been available in 2004 which is when their marriage took place. Another area where I may have taken a little liberty is their wedding. It is true that some British Embassies around the world are authorised to perform marriages, but the website I used for the information did not state which ones. I have assumed that as the marriage was performed on what is considered to be British soil, it would have been subject to British law covering marriages.

  Also the final exams that Ben had to sit for his medical qualification have possibly been moved a couple of months ahead of the correct timing.

  All the places which Ben and Charis visit in the UK are real and have been described as accurately as possible.

  If there are any discrepancies in the narrative, the fault is mine, but I ask you to please remember, that it is fiction.

  I hope you enjoyed reading Charis.

  Mary Francis

  October 2013.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Mary Francis is a London native now living far away from the hustle and bustle of city life in the peaceful English countryside. A busy wife and mother, she has always been an avid reader. She spent years plotting story lines which eventually morphed into Charis, originally written only for her own interest until encouraged by family members to publish. Her passion is English history and she is currently writing the prequel to Charis which tells the story of some of Charis' ancestors against a backdrop of important and factual historical events.